City Council KOs request to turn Lynn house into church

LYNN – City Councilors voted unanimously to deny a request that would have allowed a small house on Basset Street to become a home for The Victorious Christian Army Ministry.”I’m standing with the neighbors on this,” said Ward 3 City Councilor Darren Cyr during a public hearing on the issue Tuesday.Richard Leelman lives just across the street and down a few houses from Victoria Giwa, who filed a request asking the City Council to let her turn her single family home into a church.”I’ve actually been in the house,” he said. “It’s a tiny little hovel, it doesn’t even have a driveway. I’m dumbfounded by what is being planned.”Giwa, who did not attend the hearing, had previously stated that she was only looking to make her home a temporary meeting space. The native Nigerian said she has been called to do God’s work in Lynn specifically but she couldn’t find a space suitable for a church.However, during the hearing, when Council President Timothy Phelan called for those in support of the application to speak Giwa failed to appear to make her case.”I can’t imagine it being a church or a meeting place,” Leelman said, referring to the tiny white-and-blue house.Parking was an issue for Renee Valeri, a resident of 46 Basset St.”We can’t afford to have any more cars parked on the street,” she said.Cyr pointed out that any building used as a meeting space of any kind would have to meet certain building code requirements, which includes parking, handicap accessibility and a sprinkler system.”I don’t feel this is a good location to put this at all,” he said. “I don’t see it as a good fit for the neighborhood.”Cyr said he could also see potential issues with the city’s Disability Commission because the place was clearly not handicap accessible nor easily accessible by anyone.The board voted 11-0 to deny the application.Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].